Quick Hits from Camp Day 20

The offense shined throughout Tuesday's practice. Take a look at the playmakers from a session that included a live, goal-line drill.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Tuesday's practice was a big one for the offense, as impressive catches were made throughout the session, and the unit "won" the final goal-line drill of the day.

Let's get right to the recap.

ROLL CALL

The biggest news of the day revolved around guard Chris Kuperreturning to practice in full pads. Head Coach John Fox confirmed that he has been taken off the Physically Unable to Perform list, and he had a limited practice similar to the way Ryan Clady has made his way through training camp to this point. Kuper didn't take part in any team drills, but he went through individual drills and even snapped the ball to Peyton Manning during warm-ups prior to the start of practice.

The only other change to the injury report Tuesday was the addition of wide receiver Lamaar Thomas, who left practice and is being evaluated for a concussion.

PLAYMAKERS

Tuesday's morning practice ended with a set of live plays -- tackling was allowed -- near the goal line. The first play of the drill saw safety Duke Ihenacho come away with an interception of a pass intended for tight end Virgil Green in the end zone.

The offense got the better of the defense on the next few plays, including a touchdown run by Montee Ball, who found the edge of the defense and turned the corner into the end zone. Fellow running back C.J. Anderson found the opposite corner of the end zone on a run later in the live session for another touchdown after nearly scoring on the prior play on a pass from Brock Osweiler. The officials ruled him down at the 1-yard line, however, thanks to a tackle by Nate Irving.

On the final play of the live drill, safety Mike Adams fired up the defense and helped make sure the unit didn't allow another score, pushing the pile backwards away from the goal line.

In a separate set of red-zone drills, Peyton Manning made two pretty throws -- and wide receiver Wes Welker and tight end Julius Thomas made perhaps even prettier catches. The first was to Welker through traffic in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, and on the very next play Thomas went up and over Adams to haul in the touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone.

Early in practice, Montee Ball made a nice run up the middle of the line and cut to the sideline for a big gain. Right as the whistle blew, however, Ihenacho knocked the ball out of his hands and the defense celebrated what it considered a forced fumble.

In the very first set of full-team plays, Welker caught a pass from Manning even as safety Rahim Moore nearly got there to swat it away. The Manning-to-Welker connection was alive and well Tuesday, as the wide receiver caught a deep touchdown pass from Manning past the coverage of cornerback Chris Harris later in full-team drills.

Trindon Holliday had back-to-back impressive catches during team drills, both on passes from quarterback Zac Dysert. The first was in the middle of a lot of defensive traffic, and the second saw the diminuative receiver slide to the ground to make a shoestring catch of a low pass on the sideline.

Wide receiver Andre Caldwell made another impressive deep catch during Tuesday's practice, this one in between the coverage of Adams and cornerback Omar Bolden.

The defense made its share of plays Tuesday as well, including a breakup by safety David Bruton in the end zone to prevent a touchdown, and a breakup by rookie cornerback Kayvon Webster in front of fellow rookie Tavarres King on a pass from Brock Osweiler. Linebacker Steven Johnson also laid a big hit on Anderson during a nine-on-seven drill.

QUICK HITS

Tight end Jacob Tamme got involved in team drills Tuesday after returning to practice Monday and made a catch during seven-on-sevens.

During one-on-ones between offensive and defensive linemen, Philip Blake got the better of defensive lineman Malik Jackson on one rep with a pancake block.

The club will be back on the field for another practice free and open to the public Wednesday at 10:25 a.m.